Twisted Reality Check
by itami-battosai
Summary: [Chapter 2 Up] [REPOSTED] Okay, what if all that you thought was fantasy...turned out to be reality? (R&R)
1. Instructions

_ TRC_ is back!! Some influences of reading manga and finishing my college application for MCLA have put the Writing Gene in my head back in business. This story was on my old account – Yami no Yosei – but it's been revived under this new one (which is my LiveJournal name, too).

Anywho, for those of you who ARE reading this: I hope you enjoy this small peek into my crazy mind!! So, here's the beginning of an old idea brought to life again!!

(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this chapter. Except for myself and Mae. We are ourselves – real people.)

* * *

".........Wait a minute – let me get this straight here. Your mom and dad went out to visit their friends in Massachusetts, your brother's staying at his friend's house until they get back, and you're at the house for the summer ALL ALONE?!?"

A pulse mark appeared at the girl's forehead as she gripped the phone in her hand tightly. "Hai, Mae-chan," she replied harshly for the seventeenth time that afternoon. "But that does NOT mean I am having a party. I've got too much to do."

"But, Mia-chan........." Mae moaned on the opposite end of the phone line. "You're always busy. Give yourself a break and relax a little!! I command you to-!"

"NO, Mae."

"But-!!"

"Do I have to march over there and destroy your websites?"

"Do you have a death wish?"

Mia grinned at her friend's harsh tone of voice. It was the kind that told you to back off or die – a constant joke between the two. "You know there are fifty people in town that have death wishes on me, so how could I have one on myself?" she retorted humorously.

"Whatever," Mae sighed in defeat. "Anyways, what're ya doin' now?"

Mia rolled her eyes. She had been on the phone with her friend for twenty minutes straight, which had forced her to talk while using precious time to surf the Web. "I am trying to find a site that will tell me where I can buy _Rurouni Kenshin_ and _YugiOh_ plushies, of course," she said as she continued to search Google for her goal.

Mae giggled. "That's impossible, you know. No one wants to give any up. Either that, or no one's made any yet."

"Tell them to hurry up," Mia whined as she fingered the end of her dark ponytail. "I want a Kenshin plushie, and I want one NOW."

"You're too obsessed with my annoying brother, ne?"

"Call him that, and I will have to kill you."

"You and what army?"

"Me and Yugi's Noodle Brigade!!"

Both girls burst out laughing at this comment. It was a joke between the two of them to pretend that the _YugiOh_ world – or any other Anime world - was a part of their own, one that they took into consideration.

"'Noodle Brigade'?" Mae questioned as she forced her giggles to subside. "When'd you come up with that one?"

"Just now," Mia said, her fingers working quickly over the keys as she typed. "I've got nothing better to do anyways."

"Yeah........."

"Mae-chan?"

".........What?"

Mia frowned as she paused for a moment. "I was asking you what was wrong, Mae," she repeated dully. "Which of your many bishounen were you daydreaming about THIS time?"

"Guess."

Mia grinned as she thought of her friend's many Anime crushes that she had. "I'm going to take a long-shot and say Miroku," she said finally.

"........."

"Well? Was I right?"

"I.........despise.........you........."

Mia giggled. "What now?! A psycho teenager daydreaming about her favorite perverted monk sounds perfectly normal to me!!"

"BAKA!!"

"BIZNATCH!!"

"........."

"Mae-chan?"

"Jeez, you'd give Tasuki a run for his money with all the swearing you do........."

"Arigatou!!"

A silence overtook the two girls as they sank deep into thought. Mia continued to type, not really noticing anything around her. **Jeez, it's awesome when I can joke with my friends,** she thought, **but.........Jeez, why does the summer have to be THIS way?!? So freakin' BORING!!**

"Mia-chan?"

"Nani?"

"I was just thinking........."

"Uh-oh," Mia mumbled. As soon as the words left her mouth, she jerked the phone away from her ear as a stream of yells and threats emitted from the earpiece. **I shouldn't have said that,** she thought and she winced from the loud shouts aimed at her. She peered at the phone as Mae calmed down, brought it back to her ear, and said, "Gomen, Mae-chan. What were you thinking about?"

"Well," Mae began in a strangely thoughtful tone, "we've been talking about different Anime characters for a while now, ne?"

"Yeah," Mia said slowly, not knowing the point her friend was getting at.

"I mean, we've mentioned _Rurouni Kenshin_, _YugiOh_, _Inu Yasha_, and _Fushigi Yuugi_ during this one phone call, right?"

"Your point with all this, Mae-chan?"

Mae huffed annoyingly but continued, "Well, I was going to ask you if you've ever thought about what it would be like if our favorite characters from each Anime we liked were here with us?"

There was a long pause, broken only by the sound of Mia's fingers on the keyboard. After a while, she replied, "Well, yeah – I have thought about it at times. When I'm really bored or upset or something like that. Why?"

Mae just laughed a little. "Just wondering if your brain was as screwed up as mine, Mia-chan!!" she said simply.

Mia shook her head as she replied, "Yeah, yeah, Mae. I believe you."

"HEY!! You're being sarcastic!!"

"How can you tell? You're on the other end of the phone miles away from my house!"

"I just CAN!!"

"Oye," Mia stated, giving up the argument with Mae. She let her eyes drift lazily back to the computer screen, which had her screensaver on and running. "Damn it," she swore as she moved the mouse to get her computer back online. The familiar _X/1999_ background appeared, and each icon began to pop up one by one.

Then, she saw a familiar-looking icon at the bottom of her screen. It was an envelope wrapped in a blue arrow, telling her that.........

"Hey! I've got mail!!" Mia said excitedly as she opened up Outlook Express on her computer.

"Same here," Mae said, and her friend could have sworn there was a bit of puzzlement in her words.

**Oh well,** Mia thought as the program finally opened and displayed the beginning of the email. Her eyebrows rose in confusion as she read the heading and clicked on the email. "Mae," she said uneasily, "did you send me something by a different email address?"

"Nopah," Mae said. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Why? Did you get an email from a 'Ruler of the Little People'?"

"........."

"Mae-chan?"

"How'd you guess?"

Mia gulped a little, noticing how the saliva had just built up in her throat. **Okay, THAT'S** **a little freaky,**she thought. "Okay, I got the same thing. Does the heading say 'You Two'?" she asked her friend.

"Mia, does it say that on YOUR email, too?"

"Jeez, this is getting too weird," Mia stated as she shifted uncomfortably in her desk seat. "I mean, I love supernatural stuff and everything, but this goes over the top."

"Maybe it's something from FanFiction about our accounts. Or from Kay in Florida. Or from Christine. Or Ben. Or Dan. Or-!" Mae said in a rushed voice.

"Mae, take fifty deep breaths and relax," Mia said calmly, as if Mae was a five-year-old child that needed to be comforted. "Besides, I have all their emails stored away in my computer."

"Well, it could be one you have listed yet."

This time, Mia was the one who huffed loudly. "Well, fine then," she said sarcastically. "Maybe it's from one of them. NOW, should we open it?"

"Mia-chan, now YOU have to relax."

"Whatever.........Well?"

"Well what?"

"Should we open it?"

"Guess so. Cross your fingers, and pray for dear life, girl!"

Mia sighed and set the phone down on the desk. Guiding the mouse to click on the email highlighted, she could hear Mae humming a tune from her Good Charlotte CD. She gave a lopsided smile at the phone at her friend's antics before turning to the screen to read the email.

"........."

"Mia-chan? You okay?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Mia slowly picked up the phone but never took her eyes off of the email she had opened. When the mouthpiece was within range, she whispered, "Oh boy........."

"It's a six-line email, ne?"

".........Yeah."

"Well, how about this? I'll read the first line, you read the second one, and so forth. Okay?"

"Sure," Mia replied unsteadily.

"'Two of you that believe.........'" Mae read.

"'In those that are forgotten.........'" Mia continued, following the pattern set by Mae.

"'A chance to find ultimate happiness.........'"

"'Or a sentence to utter hell.........'"

"'Help them find a place to belong.........'"

"........."

"Mia-chan! You have to read the last line."

Mia sighed but read it slowly, trying to comprehend their true meaning:

"'Let the game begin at noon.'"

Another silence fell as Mia continued to stare at the message.

"Mia?"

"Nani, Mae-chan?"

"What does that mean: 'Let the game begin at noon'?"

Mia shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe we're players of some kind of tournament."

"Or a DDR event at the mall?"

"In your dreams, Mae-chan. Listen, I gotta go. It's five minutes to twelve, and I feel like making some rice. I'll call you later, ne?"

"Hai. I'm getting hungry, too. Ja ne!"

"Ja!!" Mia said as she hung up the phone. Setting down on her computer speakers, she let out a long sigh and moved the email to the trash bin, where she promptly deleted it. "Probably some joke mail," she mumbled to herself. "Nothing to worry about."

Getting up from her desk, she winced as pain shot up through her left leg. "Goddamned leg," she cursed as she walked out of her room, closing the door behind her. "Why'd I have to strain it at that karate picnic yesterday?"

Walking down the stairs carefully, Mia made her way to the kitchen, where she began to gather the ingredients for rice. She filled a pot with an inch of water in the sink and put it on the stove, mumbling under her breath the entire time.

"I wonder what that email was really about," Mia murmured as she poured the rice into the pot and put the lid on it. She turned down the heat and leaned against the counter to wait, continuing to talk to herself about the email. "Wonder who that 'Ruler of the Little People' be anyone – from a _Wizard of Oz_ fan to a midget. Still, I can't help but think about-!"

BBBOOONNNGGG!!! BBBOOONNNGGG!!! BBBOOONNNGGG!!!

The clock began announcing the hour as Mia jumped in surprise and clutched her T-shirt in an attempt to slow her heartbeat down. "Goddamned clock!!" she said loudly as she checked the rice. Nothing had really happened, so she set the timer for fifteen minutes and headed back up to her room.

"Jeez, why does my life have to be so screwed up?" Mia said under her breath as she climbed the steps to the second floor. She stopped talking, however, when she heard scuffling sounds coming from her room.

Mia paused at the top of the steps, her heart beating wildly in panic. **Okay, calm down, girl,** she told herself. **It's probably one of the cats that snuck in. Yeah, that has to be it.........I hope.**

Looking around her, she spotted her blue karate staff standing in a corner. Picking it up, she proceeded towards her door. The scuffling had stopped, but that silence only added to her uneasiness. Holding her staff in one hand, she pushed open the door to her room. The creak of the hinges sent a chill up and down her spine. **Weird,** she thought. **I usually never get scared about stuff like this. Then again, I haven't been the same since I watched _The Ring_.........**

Mia peeked around the corner, her hazel eyes wary as they scanned the room. Everything seemed to be all right – her computer with the starry screensaver, her desk, her dresser, her bed, her bulletin board, and her bookcase. She eyed her four Anime wall scrolls that adorned her walls. Immediately on her left, a _YugiOh _wall scroll picturing the bearers of the three Egyptian God Cards (and the Monsters themselves) hung. She looked over at her far wall, where another scroll featuring Yami, Marik, and Kaiba was in place. Next to it on a complimentary wall, Yami and his three well-known Duel Monsters (Slypher, the Dark Magician, and the Dark Magician Girl) could be seen on the third wall scroll.

Letting out a little sigh of relief that nothing was wrong, Mia took a look at her fourth wall scroll. It hung between her two windows, making everything seem in order and neat. He bed had been pushed into a far corner, so that the headboard was against the wall and below the window. The scroll was positioned over the end of her bed, fluttering from a slight breeze. It stood out from the other three, since Tasuki from _Fushigi Yuugi_ was on it. His fanged grin highlighted his flaming hair and raised arm, his iron fan spit out flames at the viewer.

"Okay, everything seems to be all right. Ne, Tasuki?" Mia said to her wall scroll happily as she walked into her room and set her staff in a corner. "I thought something was up here before, but I guess it was a branch against the window or something."

Walking to her computer on her desk, she moved the mouse again and checked her email. "Nothing again," she muttered. "I wonder when Mae is sending over that notice-thingy about her party." She blinked twice at her computer. "And WHY in the world am I talking to myself? Jeez, I'm too weird for even ME to handle.........Does that make any sense to-AAAUUUGGGHHHH!!! I'm doing it again!!"

Mia continued to rant and rave about her insanity for a few more minutes until some unseen force made her shiver. "What was that?" she asked aloud as she checked her windows. They were both locked tightly, and Mia could see gray clouds beginning to form in the sky.

"Oh, well," Mia said reassuringly. Smiling to herself, she turned towards the computer again, took two steps back, and peered at it. As she pulled her ponytail to the side of her face and began toying with the ends of her hair, she stated, "Now, the REAL question is: what do I do now?"

Then, Mia felt something hard and cold press against her skin. She caught her breath as a familiar voice behind her said:

"Yeah, what do ya do now?"

* * *

O.o Well, THAT was weird.........

Reviews are welcomed warmly with one thousand origami cranes, courtesy of the Fushigi Yuugi cast!! (You know this is a joke.)


	2. Game Start

I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LATE!!!

I would just like to point out that I am a former Knight That Says "Nee"!!! Monty Python is one of the best TV series to ever hit the airwaves!! (Does that make any sense? O.o)

(Disclaimer: I own nothing at all!! Mae and I are real people, though, so if you use us as characters………narrows eyes We will find you………)

* * *

Mia didn't move as the cold object press even harder into the back of her neck. As she gritted her teeth from the sudden pain, the voice said, "Well? Ain't ya gonna answer me? What's the matter? Can't take care of yerself?" 

That did it. That pushed Mia over the edge. Thinking fast, Mia ducked and brought her hands in fists up to her face. She swung her right leg out quickly, sweeping the stranger behind her to the floor. The hand holding the fan came down suddenly and made a gash in her right arm, but Mia didn't pay attention to it.

As she heard the stranger fall, Mia smiled coldly as she said, "Do I seem helpless to you, you-?"

She never finished her sentence. She had finally got a good look at the guy on the floor. He was wearing a dark blue trenchcoat with light blue trim, a few golden necklaces around his neck. He wore black boots and pants, and a hand was rubbing his flame-haired head. Turquoise earring dangled from his ears, and Mia could have sworn she saw a fang poking out of his mouth.

"N-No," she said quietly, but her gaze caught sight of the iron fan next to the guy. "Y-You can't be-!"

WHAM!!

Mia blinked as a fist came down on the guy's head. The guy yelled in pain and curled into a ball to get away from the blow. Puzzled, she looked up to see who had struck him………and was surprised to see a small yellow bear with beady black eyes and pale white wings.

"You are SUCH a baka!!" the animal yelled. "I thought that maybe a bandit could ask someone NICELY where we were. But, NO!! You had to go and act like a drunken idiot!!"

Mia was speechless as she tried to figure out exactly who was in her room. **They seem so familiar,** she thought. **But I can't seem to………**

"Ya know, Kero, that you don't have to be so-!"

"AAAHHHH!!!" Mia let out a yelp as she took a few steps backwards and tripped over her desk bench. As her back hit the floor, she stared right up at the ceiling, whispering to herself, "Make this all a dream, make this a dream………"

"Hey, you okay?"

Mia looked up again to see Kero peering at her from above. Yelping again, Mia managed to scramble backwards towards her bed and climb on top of it. From there, she could see Tasuki (still on the floor), Kero (a few feet away from her), and………eight other figures in her closet.

One of these figures – a small black panther sporting light green wings and green eyes – flew towards her and landed on her comforter a few inches from her foot. "Your pardon," the mini cat said politely, "but we do not mean to harm you. We merely wish to learn of our location."

"S-Spinel," Mia murmured.

The said cat's ears pricked up. "What did you call me?" he asked.

"Spinel," Mia repeated, leaning forward and reaching out to take one ear between her thumb and forefinger. She could feel a faint pulse of pumping blood underneath the soft black fur.

Then she yanked it hard.

"OOOWWW!!!" Spinel yelled as he flew around in circles and landed on her bed, clutching his ear pitifully in pain. "Why did you DO that?"

"Holy shit," Mia said aloud, sitting up straight with her legs crossed. "You're really real."

"Hey, she swears!!" Tasuki piped up from the floor. "Maybe she's kinda interestin' after all."

"And you're Tasuki," Mia said as she pointed to the flame-haired bandit. After he had nodded, she pointed to the yellow bear. "And you're Kero."

"Yep!!" Kero let loose a huge grin and flew a few inches to the side. "Now, meet the rest of us!"

Mia couldn't help but yelp again as she saw who exactly the other figures were in her closet. The first was a tall man with dark hair. He was dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants and shoes, and a purple vest. One large section of his hair was over his left eye, which was fixed on her own as Mia pointed to her in recognition.

"Hatori-san?" Mia asked.

The man nodded. "Yes," he answered with a curt nod. "Then I believe you may know Kisa." He gestured towards a small girl standing next to him. Her blond hair was short, save two small sections which reached her neck. She wore a tan schoolgirl uniform with a blue turtleneck, a red bowtie, and dark stockings and shoes.

Her brown eyes revealed how shy she was, so Mia took the first step and smiled, saying, "Hello, Kisa. It's nice to meet you."

Kisa timidly smiled back. "Hello," she replied.

"You like it here?"

Kisa shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know where 'here' is, though." She then pointed towards another figure leaning against the back wall of the closet. "He doesn't seem to like it, though. He's frowning."

Mia looked over at the frowning figure. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in his appearance. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with a red vest, tight dark-green pants, a set of black and gold bracelets, and twin gold armbands on his upper arms. Black boots, a red-and-black-checkered headband, a silver chain with a small fan charm (I think), and a die earring dangling from his left ear completed the outfit. His black hair was pulled up in a ponytail, some spiky bangs falling over the headband into his green eyes.

"Otogi?" Mia asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

Otogi glared over at her, the black triangular mark pointing down from his left eye twitching. "What?" he asked gruffly.

Mia raised her hands mockingly and backed away. "Well, ex-CUSE ME, Mr. Grouchy!!" she said sarcastically. "Jeez, say a person's name, and get snapped at – now THAT'S the way this country works!"

"See?" Kisa said as she pointed at Otogi and simultaneously clung to Hatori's pant leg. "I TOLD you he was being mean."

"Ah, shut up, kid!" Otogi said harshly.

"HEY!!" Mia said loudly. "Watch your mouth, Otogi, or I'll make it so you never talk again!!"

Otogi gave a fake shudder but didn't say another word. Mia took the time to eye a figure peeking at her from her hamper. "And WHAT are you doing in there, sir?" she asked.

The figure flew out from his hiding place. He had dark hair – long on his right side, short on his left – with purplish cat eyes that glowered at her. His chibi form sported a purple vest, dark pants, and a dark sash with slippers. Dark gloves concealed his hands.

"………Yeah?" he replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Mia just sighed as she turned away. "Okay, Koryu's here, too," she mumbled.

"Apologies, miss!" A cheerful voice rang out in the confined space. Mia turned to see a chibi girl perched on a boy's shoulder. She wore pink puffy pants with a tight shirt that had puffy short sleeves. Pink slippers were on her feet, and her pink hair was in a ponytail behind a round hat with pink buttons. Her dark pink eyes seemed dull but still managed to shimmer with some form of life.

"SUMOMO!!" Mia squealed as stars formed in her widened eyes at the sight of the persocom laptop. "Cute………"

Sumomo giggled. "Yes, miss," she said politely, "and this is my temporary new master!" She gracefully motioned to the face of her companion………who instantly sweatdropped.

"Gomen," he said as he scratched the back of his head with one hand, "but I am not her master or anything of the sort."

"Amiboshi-kun!!" Mia exclaimed as she finally realized who the boy was. He wore a purple shirt with tan trim and long sleeves. It hung over black pants that reached mid-thigh, and a black sash gave away his slim figure from underneath the fabric. He also wore black slippers, and a dark headband bound back his light brown hair. Despite it being short, some of the hair fell over the band and into the view of his purple left eye.

"Yes," Amiboshi stammered out again, and Mia could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation of being………well, in a closet.

With the somewhat quiet atmosphere (besides everyone else introducing themselves to each other), Mia turned her attention to the last member of the group.

He was leaning against the opposite side of the closet frame. He wore a loose white shirt with the sleeves rolled up loosely to his elbows. He also wore tan slacks and dark shoes. One leg was crossed over the other, kind of revealing his annoyance at the cramped space. His pale arms seemed to gleam from the lamp nearby, crossed in a relaxed manner over his chest.

Mia raised an eyebrow when she saw a green orb in the grasp of one hand, swirls of mist seeming to move around inside of it. **Wait a sec………** She focused on his face to verify her thoughts. His blond hair also seemed to glow in the lamplight, a few sections flowing out from the main mass. This mass swept down over a chiseled face and the right eye, leaving one pale violet eye………staring right at her.

**GGAAHH!!** Mia kept her thoughts of surprise to herself and just smiled and nodded in greeting before turning away. **JEEZ, he took me by surprise. How long has he been staring like that anyways?** She shook her head as the phone rang from downstairs. **No time for that now!!**

"Hang on a sec, don't go anywhere!" Mia called before she dashed down the stairs and picked up the phone. She then hurried back upstairs, where everyone was staring at her like she was crazy.

"Gomen!" she apologized quickly before hitting the on-button. "Hello?" she asked the person on the phone.

"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, MMMIIIAA!!!!!"

Mia jumped at the volume of Mae's voice. "What's wrong, Mae-chan?" she asked.

"What's wrong?! What's WRONG?!!? Oh, NOTHING'S wrong, Mia-chan. I'm just calling you, sounding like a psychotic freak just for FUN!!" was the reply.

Mia winced. "Okay, NOW you're being sarcastic," she said pointedly.

"Gomen, Mia-chan. Listen: I HAVE to tell you what happened at my house a few minutes ago."

"Nani, Mae-chan?"

"Wiz."

Mia's eyebrow rose. "Yeah?" she coaxed.

"Noa."

"Okay………"

"Shigure."

"Dog boy?"

"Koukuen."

"Uh………"

"Chi."

"All righty………"

"Kagome."

"Okay………"

"Sesshoumaru."

"Fluffy-sama………I pity him."

"Count D."

"………"

"Kayura."

"Uh, Mae?"

"And………SMURF BOY!!!"

Mia had to bite back a laugh as she answered, "You mean Touma?"

"Yeah – Hashiba!!! Of course!!"

"So………What about them?"

"THEY'RE ALL HERE AT MY HOUSE!!!!"

Mia grinned. "I thought so."

"What do you MEAN 'you thought so'?"

"Well, Mae – let me list some people for you."

"Okay. Shoot!"

"Kero."

"Yeah."

"Spinel."

"Okay."

"Sumomo."

"Um………"

"Otogi."

"Okay………."

"Tasuki."

"Heehee………"

"Hatori."

"DRAGON DUDE!!"

"Kisa."

"Cute………"

"Amiboshi."

"Uh………"

"Koryu."

"………"

"And………the one you say has a fro-like thingy for hair."

Silence. Then, "OH MY GOD!!! SAGE IS THERE, TOO?!?"

Mia winced and held the phone away from her ear. After she knew the loudness had died down, she put it back, asking, "Mae?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"As much as you are about your guys over there."

Mae let out a sigh. "Well, how are we going to handle this then? They can't just stay here with us. It'd be insane!"

"Exactly."

"Excuse me?"

"Mae, maybe we're supposed to keep them here. Maybe that's what that email meant."

" 'Let the game begin at noon'? Well, this isn't my idea of a game."

"Mae, what have I ALWAYS said about life?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

Mia sighed, massaging her forehead with two free fingers. "Mae, life is game that we all play. One false move-!"

"Your point being?"

"Well, this is one of those careful moves you have to plan out before executing. It's just like in my video games."

"Mia, this isn't a video game."

"Exactly! It's one of those………Oh, what's the word?" Mia began snapping her fingers as she strained to remember the word.

" 'RPG game'?"

"Yeah!! One of those, Mae. Look, you can believe all you want, but we've got a lot on our hands right now. This is a test. A challenge. A quest. Call it whatever you want to, damn it!!"

"Mia-chan, you're swearing again, you know?"

"Mae………" Mia pleaded, trying to get her friend to understand the stress here. "Some weird person decided to send us a weird email, and within minutes we each have seven Anime characters in our homes! This is NO coincidence. This was MEANT to happen."

Silence reigned for a few moments. Then, "Fine, Mia-chan! We'll take care of these guys. I'll call you tomorrow. We'll have some time to show them the ropes. All right?"

Mia sighed in relief and nodded. "Arigatou, Mae-chan. Ja ne!!" she replied.

"Ja!!" Mae answered before she hung up the phone.

"Well?" Amiboshi asked as Mia hung up the phone and placed it on her desk.

Mia smiled. "Looks like you guys are staying here after all. At least until we find a way to send you back," she replied.

"And who was Mae?" Kero asked, hovering about in the air.

"That's what my friends and I call her. Her real name's Maegen. Which reminds me." Mia did a small little wave. "My name's Amelia, but my friends call me Mia. Okay with you?"

"Seems fine. Now what?" Tasuki said hurriedly as he hurried to stand up from his spot on the floor.

Mia frowned but continued. "Well, we should probably get you guys settled down. We'll need sleeping bags, a whole lotta food, clothes-!" Mia grinned sheepishly. "Uh, this could actually take a while."

Koryu sweatdropped. "A while? I think that's an understatement."

Mia raised her hands in apology. "Hey, it's not my fault you guys ended up here!" she protested. "Don't get me wrong – I love the Animes you guys came from, but-!"

"Wait a minute!!" Otogi walked over to her, one hand on his hip. " 'Animes'? You mean we're cartoons?! CARTOONS?!"

Mia sweatdropped. "Uh, in this reality………yeah. You're cartoons."

"Drawings on paper?"

"Yep."

"Creations from someone's mind?"

"Absolutely."

"Characters from some storyline?!?"

"Uh, that, too!"

Kisa frowned. "But I'm real!" she cried. "I'm not an imaginary person, am I?"

"A CARTOON?!"

"Well, my theory is that you guys came from your own worlds – alternate universes to this one. You know what I'm talking about?"

"A CARTOON??!!??"

"I think I understand. Some strange and powerful magic must be at work here."

"Uh, okay, Spinel – I'll take your word for it."

"A CARTOON!!!!"

"Well, I don't understand what in the name of Suzaku is going on here? And the flute boy don't know either."

"I can speak for MYSELF, Tasuki, thank you very much!!"

"A CARTOON??!!??!!"

"IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP RIGHT NOW, OTOGI, I'M GONNA TEAR THAT DIE OUT OF YOUR EAR AND USE IT TO SHUT YOUR DAMNED MOUTH!!!!!!"

Silence took over again as Mia caught her breath from her rant. Otogi's response was a sweatdrop, followed by a quiet "Yes, ma'am."

Mia began addressing the whole group. "Look, we'll figure this out. I just need some time to think. In the meantime!" She headed towards the door leading out of her room and opened it. Turning to the Anime characters, she gestured towards the door. "Hungry?"

Approving nods were given, and one by one the characters exited the room and headed down the stairs. Before Mia got a chance to head out the door, a familiar figure caught her eye. The boy with the violet eye was still standing by the closet, arms still crossed over his chest. His eyes took in the contents of the room, stopping every time he caught sight of something on the walls. (Hey, I have a LOT of stuff on the walls, okay?)

"Hey, Sage!!" Mia called, and the boy's head snapped around so fast she jumped. His menacing eye made her gulp as she corrected herself. "Uh, well, if you don't want to be called that, then how about 'Date-san'? Okay? Look………" She motioned towards the door. "I know you probably don't want to talk to me, and I'm all right with that. But I'm gonna see if we can get you guys back home. And we're talking about that downstairs."

"So," Mia shrugged as she spoke, "if you're interested, you can come down. But if you're going to stay up here, I'm begging you not to go poking around. There's some stuff in here I don't want you guys to see yet."

Sage raised a golden eyebrow but didn't say anything. Instead, he stared at her for only a few moments, violet meeting hazel again. Then, he began walking out the door and down the stairs with the others.

Mia sighed as he left. **Jeez, he gives me the willies,** she thought as she closed the door behind her and headed down the stairs, as well. **I wish he'd be a bit more friendly, though.** But as her feet touched the steps, she couldn't forget the look in his eye during their gaze.

"I wonder what he was looking for," Mia murmured under her breath. "Or………"

**What did he see in our gaze?………What did he see?**

* * *

Shoo-ba!! (One of my no-nonsense words, you know?) 

Reviews are welcomed with a week-long round trip to Japan, courtesy of Aladdin's magic carpet and every available Super Saiyan!!


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